ITC Ltd has reaffirmed its commitment towards this year’s Swachh Bharat Diwas theme of ‘Garbage Free India’ by strengthening its sustainable circular economy initiatives, providing renewed thrust to its responsible waste management interventions. At the core of its efforts, ITC said, is the flagship ITC ‘WOW – Well Being Out of Waste’ programme which is aimed at promoting awareness, segregation, collection and management as well as reuse or recycling of solid waste. The programme has helped collect 64,000 MT of dry waste from 1,270 wards in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Chennai, Delhi, major towns of Telangana and several districts of Andhra Pradesh. The programme has covered over 2.2 crore citizens in over 55 lakh households, 57 lakh school children and around 2,100 corporates since its inception, the firm said.
The programme has also promoted sustainable livelihood for waste collectors by facilitating an effective collection system in collaboration with urban local bodies (municipal corporations).
Further, ITC said that In support of the Prime Minister’s call to citizens for Swachhta Hi Seva, a nationwide programme has been launched by the company, which entails mobilisation of ITC employees across its factory, hotels and office to create and enhance awareness regarding best waste management practices.
ITC also contributes to the Swachh Bharat Mission through another Solid Waste Management (SWM) programme which is part of its Social Investments Programme, Mission Sunehra Kal. The programme collaborates with urban local bodies and panchayats and has SWM models for towns, villages and temples to manage both wet and dry waste and minimise waste to landfill. The ITC Green Temple Initiative, a closed loop waste management model, has been expanded to cover 950 places of worship to process waste from temples to provide biogas and compost.
Furthermore, ITC’s Sustainability 2.0 agenda envisages 100 per cent of packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable/ bio-degradable by 2028. ITC is also leveraging synergies between its ITC Life Sciences and Technology Centre (LSTC), Paperboards & Packaging and FMCG businesses for sustainable packaging solutions.
ITC has taken steps to increase the use of post-consumer recycled plastic (PCR) content in its own FMCG products. “Fiama Shower Gel bottles now use 50 per cent R-PET, thus reducing virgin plastic use and Vivel Ved Vidya Soap uses 100 per cent recyclable packaging. Savlon uses 70 per cent recycled plastic material in the PET film of its glycerin soap wrappers while Engage Cologne cartons have been eliminated to make the secondary packaging into 100 per cent paper-based recyclable cartons. ITC has also launched Aashirvaad Organic Whole Wheat Atta (1kg Pack) in a paper-based bag made from 55 per cent paper while that of Aashirvaad Iodized Salt has transitioned to 100 per cent mono material PE laminate from multi layered PET/PE laminate in select variants. The packaging of Sunfeast Yippee! Power Up Noodles has transitioned to 100 per cent mono material PP laminate from multi layered PET/PE laminate outer pack and PET/Met PET/PE inner sachet. Furthermore, under its purpose-led brand initiative, ‘Terra by YiPPee!’, ITC launched eco-friendly lifestyle products that include laptop sleeves, tote bags and stationery pouches, hand-produced from upcycled YiPPee! snack wrappers,” ITC said in a statement.
In line with its credo of ‘Responsible Luxury’, ITC Hotels also reduced the use of single-use plastics from around 150 touch points across its operations, eliminating around 2.5 lakh kg of plastic per year.